Mar 15, 2011

Baggage loaded: CHECK, Boarding Pass: CHECK, Immigration: CHECK, Security: CHECK, Boarding Wait: IN PROCESS. Never has a wait for boarding my flight ever been eventful and this one was living up to its definition letter by letter. So I tried to keep busy with Sudoku to not die out of boredom until boarding when I caught a group of Flight Attendants and Aviators making their way to the aircraft. I couldn’t help but linger my gaze at them as they passed by, recalling my long lost dream of becoming one too. Luckily, the sight meant that my wait wouldn’t be long overdue.

And then I lost all concentration and interest to continue further utilization of my time. So I sat back, took a deep breath and said to myself that it was all going to be ‘Just Fine’. This journey was a clear demarcation that was going to leave my past in the past and had me anticipating for what the future held for me. A journey that was going to change my life and I couldn’t help but feel anxiety eat me bit by bit, slowly and steadily.

When I boarded the flight and took my seat by the window, I felt utter strangeness and loneliness surround me as if almost choking the life in me. In a short time we were already moving for takeoff. I made Dua’ and remembered Allah (subhaana wa ta'aala) and asked -Him to protect me and guide me in this new endeavor of life and instantly felt at peace.

Soon a blanket of clouds hid us away from the world and the ambiance reflected colors of the sun mauve into the sky. I let my imagination go crazy as I wondered how every cloud looked like something or the other. There were animals, cartoon characters, aliens, maybe Dragons at some point too and then there were just clouds. I found myself staring out at nothingness when the flight suddenly got all turbulent due to passage through a cloud. Thanks to Science for teaching us density difference and all that yet I found myself silently uttering a prayer again.

It was then that I couldn’t help but relate life to an airplane ride. About how a journey is like ‘our’ journey between life and death. About how we perceive life and live in it. Life can be canvassed to that of an aviator’s or that of a random passenger’s, though our lives are pre-written but what we make out of every living day of ours is ultimately our choice.

What is accountable is, when your ultimate journey of life is destined to death then, which one are you?

An Aviator will have in numerous journeys through life from destination to destination. Sometimes the ride gets a little turbulent while passage through a souffle of clouds but none the less, clear skies are never far away.

Whereas, A random passenger will have in numerous journeys in life too but as random as random could be. The means of the journey could be any with the ultimate goal of reaching a particular destination.

In life, there will be in numerous random journeys with a different set of fellow passengers each time. The journeys maybe long or short, easy or difficult but with passage of time they will all come to an end and then,one fine day, you realize that your ultimate journey was actually between life and death. And what actually matters is not how expensive this ride was or not, how smooth that journey went, but how you fared through it. Yes, what matters is how you made it to the finish line: By being a mere passenger or an ambitious Aviator? The former being concentrated all towards just reaching a destination and the struggle in making it alive whereas the latter being, steering your way through rough skies and scraping your path from destination to destination.

I want to be the Aviator in my life so that by the end of my journey I have my head held up high and happiness glowing on my face Insha’Allah!

If I am to paint an image, the only constant in this whole picture of life is change: change through every small journey. Change of people, Change of surroundings, Change of opinions, Change of feelings, Change of everything, Small or Big. All in all, Change!

But on looking deeper, there is another hidden constant. A constant we tend to overlook too easily,A constant we take for granted, A constant in its best term, A constant we call Allah(subhaana wa ta'aala)!

And just like aviators need directions from the control station to navigate the flight in air,that is exactly how importantly we need the Quran and Sunnah to steer our life to our final destination.

Our fate is predefined, but that does not give us any less a reason to become a mere passenger through life. Just because I know that the story of my life is already written, doesn’t mean my character in it is complete. It is like saying just because I have to go back to sleep in the night, I won’t wake up in the morning in the first place.

Be reasonable to yourself. Work your way towards building your character in your own life story. Be the Hero/Heroine of your story but don’t settle for a random unnoticed side-kick. Be the best of yourself that you could think of being or at least try to aim towards that in life.

Be the change and strive towards making life better.

Be the inspiration and steer your life to ultimate happiness.

Your picture of life may be sketched already but paint the colors in it yourself.

And don’t forget to paint the hidden constant that lies deep within your picture, etched in your mind forever!

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